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What We Know About California Victims of the Las Vegas Massacre

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Concertgoers carry a person wounded Sunday night during deadly sniper attack on outdoor music festival near the Las Vegas Strip. (David Becker/Getty Images)

Here's a brief rundown on what we know about the California victims of the Sunday night massacre in Las Vegas in which 58 people were killed and more than 500 injured.

More than half are reportedly from California, and Southern California coroners are working closely with officials in Nevada to identify the deceased. KQED is confirming and updating details about the California victims.

Deaths:

  • Hannah Ahlers, Beaumont: Ahlers was a married mother of three. "You created happiness wherever you went," Mandi Norris wrote on Facebook. Friends of Ahlers are organizing a car wash on Saturday to raise money for her family.
  • Carrie Barnette, 34, Riverside: Barnette was a Disneyland employee, according to The Arizona Republic. Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger tweeted his condolences, calling the shooting a "senseless, horrific act," and saying, "We mourn a wonderful member of the Disney family."
  • Jack Beaton, 54, Bakersfield: Beaton was a construction worker who lived with his wife, Laurie Beaton, and their two children, according to the Associated Press. Laurie said he put his own body on top of hers for protection when the shooting started. He told her, "I love you, Laurie," and then his body went heavy. That's when she knew he had been shot. Laurie said that she wants people to hear how he had protected her, just as he always had done. "I knew every day that he would protect me and take care of me and love me unconditionally, and what he did is no surprise to me, and he is my hero," she said.
  • Candace Bowers, 40, Garden Grove: According to the L.A. Times, Bowers had recently adopted a relative's baby when that woman was struggling — despite the fact that Bowers was already raising a 16-year-old daughter and 20-year-old son on her own. “She had a big heart. She was just a sweetheart. She would do anything for anybody," Vicki Jeffries, Bowers’ aunt, told the Times. The waitress at Mimi's Cafe attended the concert with friends. "She left the world doing what she loved, dancing to country music among loved ones," wrote a friend on a GoFundMe page for her kids.
  • Sandy Casey, Manhattan Beach: Casey, a special education teacher at Manhattan Beach Middle School, was fatally wounded in the attack, according to a statement from the school district's superintendent. Several other school district employees were also at the music festival, but were not injured.
  • Denise Cohen, Santa Barbara County: Cohen worked as a Homeowners Association manager. Her co-workers at Team HOA described her as "a ray of sunshine" and "always so positive — always had a smile on her face." Cohen leaves behind two sons and a grandson, according to her co-workers. She attended the concert with her boyfriend, "Bo" Taylor, who also died, according to the Los Angeles Times.
  • Austin Davis, 29, Riverside: Davis left behind his parents and girlfriend of nine years, Aubree Hennigan, who he met in high school. "From Lori and Gary and Stacey and the rest for the family and myself: Tonight we lost an amazing man. Austin, my love, I can't believe this happened. You didn't deserve this," Hennigan wrote on Facebook.
  • Tom Day Jr., 54, Corona: Day worked the past 24 years as an estimator at Portrait Construction in Corona. Colleague Bruce Abbey told KPCC that Day was a "people person" who loved his four adult kids and spending time on the Colorado River on his boat. He said Day loved music and was not at all surprised he had made the trek to Las Vegas to see the country music festival. "It’s going to be a real void," Abbey said. "He’s a great person." According to the L.A. Times, his four kids were with him at the festival.
  • Christiana Duarte, 22, Torrance: Duarte worked as a fan service associate for the L.A. Kings, according to a statement from the team. She graduated from the University of Arizona in May with a degree in communications, according to a statement by university president Robert Robbins. He called the shooting a "terrible tragedy for hundreds of families" and said, "I know I speak for the UA community in expressing our deepest condolences to Christiana's family and in asking for their privacy to be respected."
  • Stacee Etcheber, Novato: Etcheber, whose husband, Vinnie Etcheber, is a San Francisco police officer, was killed in the Las Vegas shooting Sunday night, according to her brother-in-law. After shots rang out, Vinnie Etcheber began assisting the injured, his brother, Al Etcheber, told KQED. When there was a lull in the gunfire, Etcheber told his wife to run, and then there was a “second barrage,” said his brother. Stacee Etcheber was a 50-year-old hairdresser from Novato, and the couple has two children.
  • Brian Fraser, 39, La Palma: Fraser was vice president of sales for Greenpath, a mortgage company in Southern California, according to  a statement from the company. His sister-in-laws,  Briana Flanigan and Brittany Gonzalez, wrote on a GoFundMe page created for his family that he was "a bigger than life man." He attended the concert with his wife and friends, and was attempting to shield his wife, Stephanie, when he was shot, his son, Nick Arellano, told the Associated Press. He adopted Nick and another of Stephanie's kids when they were married, and the couple had two more children. "He taught me what it meant to be an honest, motivated, driven, loving man to not only family and friends, but even to just strangers, or anyone he came in contact with — just to be a human being to everyone on this planet,” Arellano told the AP.
  • Keri Lyn Galvan, 31, Thousand Oaks: Galvan was at the festival with her husband and friends. She worked as a waitress at Mastro's Steakhouse in Thousand Oaks and leaves behind three kids, according to the L.A. Times. Her sister, Lindsey Poole, wrote on a GoFundMe page that Galvan was a "devoted wife and mother" to her three kids. "Her days started and ended with doing everything in her power to be a wonderful mother," wrote Poole.
  • Dana Gardner, 52, Grand Terrace: Gardner was a deputy recorder-county clerk in the San Bernardino County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk’s Office, according to county spokesman David Wert. Gardner had worked for the county since 1991, and lived in Grand Terrace, he said.
  • Angie Gomez, Riverside: Gomez's death was announced in a Facebook post by her former high school's PTSA. Gomez graduated from Riverside Polytechnic High School in 2015 and was a cheerleader for the school, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help her family with funeral costs.
  • Rocio Guillen, Eastvale, Riverside County: Guillen grew up in Anaheim and was a "young, beautiful, happy, hard-working mother" who just gave birth to her fourth child, Austin, a month ago, her cousin  Vanessa Pineda wrote on a GoFundMe page she set up. According to NPR, Guillen was still on maternity leave from California Pizza Kitchen. Her three other children are 18 months, 13, and 17.
  • Chris Hazencomb, 44, Camarillo: Hazencomb attended the concert with his friend, Nikki Torres, according to KPCC. "He was the kindest person I knew," she said. Hazencomb had worked as a self-checkout host at the Walmart Neighborhood Market in Camarillo since 2013, according to a company spokesperson. He graduated from Thousand Oaks High School in 1991, according to the principal and an alumni account, which tweeted out remembrances of Hazencomb. According to the Ventura County Star, he died while attempting to shield Torres.
  • Jennifer Irvine, San Diego: Irvine was a lawyer specializing in family law, with an independent practice in San Diego. Jay Jones, her publicist, confirmed to KQED that she was killed in the shooting. He described Irvine as kind and respectful and said, "I was happy we had crossed paths."
  • Nicol Kimura, 38, Placentia: According to the Associated Press, the Southern California native attended the concert with a group of friends who called themselves a "framily." Another member of that group, Ryan Miller, said of Kimura that although she didn't have kids, "she was a mom to all of our kids; they called her 'auntie.' " She worked in a tax office in Orange County and "her heart was bigger than most human beings, her spirit was beautiful, her laugh was infectious," Miller wrote on a GoFundMe page.
  • Victor Link, 55, Aliso Viejo: Link attended the festival with his fiancee and had an adopted son. "I love you so much Dad. Thank you so much for adopting me," his son Christian wrote on Facebook, "I'm going to do all the things that we talked about but this time I'm actually going to do it." Link worked in the mortgage business.
  • Kelsey Meadows, 28, Taft: A 2007 graduate of Taft Union High School, Meadows got her degree from Cal State Fresno before coming back to her hometown to work as a substitute teacher in the district, where her mother also worked as an IT manager. “Kelsey was smart, compassionate and kind. She had a sweet spirit and a love for children”, said Taft Union High School principal Mary Alice Finn in a statement. The district also said they will start a Kelsey Meadows Memorial Scholarship Fund.
  • Pati Mestas, 67, Menifee: Mestas was a country music fan, who once snuck up to the front row of a Brooks & Dunn concert, friend Isa Bahu told The Press Enterprise. She had three children, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. "She was a firecracker, a joy to behold and be in the presence of -- lighting up everything around her," longtime family friend Alexis Magaña told KPCC.
  • Rachael Parker, 33, Manhattan Beach: Parker died in the hospital after being shot at the music festival, according to a statement from the Manhattan Beach Police Department. She worked as a police records technician for the department. Three other Manhattan Beach Police Department employees were at the concert, and one of them sustained minor injuries.
  • Jennifer Parks, Palmdale: Parks was a kindergarten teacher at Anaverde Hills School, where she had taught for three years. "She was always enthusiastic, energetic, committed, and dedicated to her students, her colleagues and was so proud to be a teacher," the Westside Union district said in a statement to KQED. "The students who were instructed by her knew what it was to love learning as Jennifer gave them the sense of wonder, curiosity, and excitement about all they did."
  • Lisa Patterson, 48, Lomita: Patterson was the mother of three children and married to Bob Patterson. The couple met when she was 18 and he was 25, he told KPCC. "We clicked from the very beginning," adding that they lived separately and dated for seven years while she attended Cal State Long Beach. Their Catholic faith was important to them, he said, noting that they sent their three children, now ages 19, 16 and 8, to Catholic schools. The couple opened a hardware flooring company together, a venture that Patterson described as a partnership. "Even though it's Robert Patterson Hardwood floors, I was more of an employee," Patterson said. "She ran the company. I just knew how to do floors really well."
  • John Phippen, 56, Santa Clarita: Phippen owned JP Specialties, a home remodeling company in Santa Clarita, according to KPCC. He was attending the concert in Las Vegas with his son, Travis, a medic for movie studios, who was shot in the elbow, according to family friend Leah Nagyivanyi. "He just was one of those people that whether he knew you or he didn’t know you, you needed help, he was there. No questions asked," she said. Phippen, an avid music fan, had been excited to attend the concert and have a guys’ weekend away, said Nagyivanyi. "He loved his country music," she said. "He loved to get out there and dance, and he was just a great guy." This is the second time tragedy has struck Phippen's family in recent years, added Nagyivanyi, who said Phippen's wife died in 2013. Nagyivanyi has set up a GoFundMe for Phippen's children.
  • Jordyn Rivera, 21, La Verne: According to the Associated Press, Rivera was in her fourth year at California State University, San Bernardino. The university released a statement confirming her death. "It is with the utmost sadness I must report that a member of our campus community is among the victims," said university president Tomás Morales. Rivera was warm, optimistic and kind, he said. Katie Ortega, who has known her for years, told CNN they played softball together as kids. Rivera "was and always will be a role model to many," said Ortega. "She would always make it a point to make every single individual feel special, always laughing at my stupid jokes."
  • Chris Roybal, 28, Denver: Corona native and Navy veteran Chris Roybal had survived his deployment in Afghanistan, only to die in the Las Vegas shooting. On July 18, he had written a Facebook post about what it's like to be shot at. Roybal's mother, Debby Allen, told KPCC he was "a proud American." She said "he sang in Spanish all the time. He sang so beautifully." At the time of his death Roybal lived in Denver, where he managed a Crunch Fitness. His grandfather, Stalin Mendoza of Downey, said Roybal was the light of his life. "He was my baby. He was everything to me," said Mendoza, who said he gave Roybal the nickname "buddy boy ... He was my buddy boy."
  • Bailey Schweitzer, 20, Bakersfield: Schweitzer graduated from Centennial High School in Bakersfield in 2015, where she was a cheerleader. The school's official Twitter account posted a memorial and Schweitzer's former cheerleading adviser, Stacy Minnie, told KQED, “Bailey was a wonderful, kind person who was liked by all -- students and staff. The Golden Hawk community is grieving.”
  • Laura Shipp, 50, Thousands Oaks: Shipp had moved to Vegas from Southern California in the last few years to be closer to her son, Corey, a Marine Corps reservist whom she had raised as a single mom, according to the Associated Press. The two attended the concert together. Her former brother-in-law, Tom Baker, told KPCC she was a wonderful mom. "The first thing you would notice was that she had a big huge smile on her face, almost all the time," he said. "She was a very bubbly person. She was the kind of person who would go out of her way to make somebody else happy." Ship graduated from Thousand Oaks High School in 1985.
  • Susan Smith, 53, Simi Valley: Smith was fatally wounded while attending the music festival, according to Simi Valley Unified School District spokeswoman Jake Finch. Smith was the office manager at one of the district's schools, Vista Fundamental Elementary. She had worked for the school district for the past 16 years. Finch said Smith excelled at her job and had a great sense of humor. Smith was married and the mother of two adult children.
  • Derrick "Bo" Taylor, 56, Oxnard: Taylor worked at the Ventura Conservation Camp and he was a veteran with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. His career as a California corrections officer had been 29 years. “There are no words to express the feeling of loss and sadness regarding Bo’s passing," said Warden Joel Martinez in a department newsletter. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. We truly are a family here at SCC and Bo’s loss will be felt throughout the prison, conservation camps, and Department." According to the L.A. Times, he attended the concert with his girlfriend, Denise Cohen, who also died. He has two sons.
  • Kurt von Tillow, 55, Cameron Park: A 1980 El Molino High School graduate and the owner of Von Tillow Trucking outside Sacramento, von Tillow attended the concert with his wife, daughter, sister and niece, according to CNN. His sister, Dee Ann Hyatt, told the Press Democrat she credits him with having saved their lives. Friends remember a man who loved golf, beer, his family and had a "famous belly laugh." "From now on every time I see a Bud Light how can I not think of Kurt," wrote Mark Baca on Facebook.
  • Michelle Vo, 32, Los Angeles: Vo had been living in Los Angeles for the last three years, but had roots in San Jose and attended Independence High School. She worked as an insurance agent at New York Life Insurance of Pasadena, according to family. Her sister, Diane Hawkins, told KQED she had an infectious smile, loved talking to people, and made friends wherever she went. She was vivacious, charismatic, and ambitious, she said. "You know, she’s the type of person that just goes. And that’s what she did," says Hawkins. "She just backpacked through Europe and got to know people and I said, “You know, Michelle, are you scared going to Europe by yourself?” And she’s like, “No! You know, what? I’m not alone. I can make friends.' ”


Injuries:

  • Michael Gracia and his fiance, Ontario: Gracia, an Ontario police officer, is in critical condition, according to a statement from the Ontario Police Department. He has been an officer for four years. Gracia's fiance, who has not been named, was also injured in the attack.
  • Brian and Lara Mack, Santa Barbara: Brian and Lara Mack were both injured in the attack and hospitalized, according to a Facebook post by Brian Mack’s sister. Brian Mack was hit in the stomach and underwent surgery, and Lara Mack received a grazing wound to the head. Lara Mack posted a photo of the couple on Facebook at the music festival just over an hour before the first reports of the shooting. The photo was quickly flooded with comments from friends and family. Brian Mack is an anesthesiologist and Lara Mack is a personal trainer. They have three children, according to media reports.
  • Aaron Mundhenke, Bakersfield: Aaron Mundhenke, a Bakersfield police officer, was attending the event and was shot in his hip, Bakersfield police spokesman Sgt. Ryan Kroeker told KQED. Mundhenke had surgery on his broken pelvis Monday morning and is recovering in a Las Vegas hospital. He is expected to survive. Several other off-duty Bakersfield police officers were also attending the music festival.
  • Two Los Angeles Fire Department members: Two off-duty members of the Los Angeles Fire Department were struck by the gunfire, but their injuries do not appear to be life-threatening, according to a statement from the fire chief. At least seven LAFD members were reportedly at the music festival when the gunman opened fire.
  • One Los Angeles police officer: The off-duty officer, who has remained unnamed, was shot in the leg and is expected to recover, according to a statement by the Los Angeles Police Department. Several other LAPD officers were attending the music festival, but it’s unknown if any of them were injured in the attack.
  • Two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department employees: Two off-duty employees were shot, according to a statement from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Office. One was critically injured and the other is stable.
  • Two Newport Beach city employees: Two people who worked for the city of Newport Beach, including an off-duty police officer, sustained non-life threatening injuries, according to a press release from the police department.
  • One Orange County sheriff’s deputy and two family members: One off-duty Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputy and two family members of other sheriff's department employees were injured in the attack, according to a press release from the department. Their injures are non-life-threatening.
  • Two Riverside County Sheriff's Office employees: One Riverside deputy sheriff is in critical condition, and one correctional deputy was injured but has been released, according to a tweet from the Riverside Sheriff's Office.

This post will be updated as more information becomes available.

Jeremy Siegel, Tara Siler, Bert Johnson, Sarah Craig and KPCC staff reporters contributed to this report. 

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